By REYNALD MAGALLON
Justin Brownlee may have been shocking the world with his splendid performance so far in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournament but it was a scene that is not new for the rest of his teammates and perhaps, the rest of the Filipino fans rallying behind him.
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone, who has handled Brownlee for eight years both with Barangay Ginebra in the PBA and now with the national team, was the least surprised with the level of how the 36-year-old was playing in the OQT.
“He’s a big moment guy. He plays huge in big moments and he has proven it over and over again and what he’s doing here in this tournament is no surprise whatsoever to what we’ve seen throughout his career in the Philippines,” Cone said of Brownlee.
Brownlee rose to the occasion anew with another near-triple-double of 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as Gilas prevented Georgia from winning their last game by 19 or more than points to keep its spot in the Top 2 of Group A and advance to the semifinals.
Gilas actually trailed by as many as 20 points but it was Brownlee who kept Gilas’ head above the water before the rest of the crew picked up the slack and only lost by two, 96-94 to eliminate Georgia.
Brownlee has been leading the Riga OQT in scoring and assist department while he was also in the Top 3 in rebounding. The Gilas naturalized player is averaging 27.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.5 assists – and even had better efficiency against NBA players in the tournament at 34 EFFPG.
“I’ve said this before, in the NBA someone missed out on this guy. They weren’t on the ball and missed this guy. He never should have been in the Philippines. He should be in the NBA,” Cone said of Brownlee.
More than the individual talent, however, Brownlee’s ability to make the entire team better is what Cone believes set him apart from other players.
“The thing that really makes Justin special is number 1, he’s absolutely the best teammate that I’ve ever seen through all my coaching. He’s just a tremendous teammate,” Cone pointed out.
“Number 2 he has that rare skill that any team he plays he makes the players around him better they play at a higher level. He knows how to make people better around him,” added Cone.
